The blue glow of Derek Thompson's phone illuminated his face in the darkness of his bedroom at 3:47 AM. His eyes were bloodshot, his fingers cramping, and his half-eaten bag of Doritos had gone stale hours ago. None of that mattered. He was in the middle of the most important battle of his life.
A battle for truth. A battle for justice. A battle for the honor of Dragon Ball Daima.
@DaimaGokuSolos: "Y'all Super fanboys just can't accept that Daima Goku negs your entire verse. Cope and seethe. 🤡"
The notification sound dinged again. And again. And again. His mentions were absolutely flooded with angry Super fans who simply couldn't comprehend the objective facts he was laying down.
Derek cracked his knuckles and scrolled through the responses, a smirk forming on his chapped lips.
@VegitoBlueGOAT: "Bro you're actually delusional. MUI Goku would one-shot that little midget Goku without even trying. Stop the cap."
@JirenSolosYourFave: "Daima isn't even canon to Super's timeline. Your argument is invalid."
@BeerusSweepsEveryone: "Imagine thinking a tiny Goku who got turned into a kid by wish orbs is stronger than Ultra Instinct. L take + ratio + you fell off."
Derek felt his blood pressure rising. These people were so ignorant. So blind to the truth that was right in front of their faces. He had spent the last six months meticulously analyzing every single frame of Dragon Ball Daima, cross-referencing it with interviews, data books, and even obscure Toriyama comments from decades ago. He had created spreadsheets. Spreadsheets.
And these casuals thought they could come at him with their basic "MUI solos" arguments?
Not today.
His fingers flew across the cracked screen of his iPhone, typing with the fury of a thousand suns.
@DaimaGokuSolos: "Let me educate you CLOWNS since you clearly don't understand basic power scaling. Thread incoming. 🧵👇"
@DaimaGokuSolos: "1/ First of all, Daima takes place in a COMPLETELY different cosmology. The Demon Realm exists outside the normal universe structure. Goku in Daima is fighting threats that transcend your basic universal scaling."
@DaimaGokuSolos: "2/ Second, Goku in Daima has access to abilities and transformations that utilize a FUNDAMENTALLY different energy system. The Demon Realm ki operates on principles that make God Ki look like child's play."
@DaimaGokuSolos: "3/ Third, and this is the part you Super dickriders always ignore - TORIYAMA HIMSELF supervised Daima more closely than he ever did Super. This is his TRUE vision for Goku. Super was handed off to Toyotaro and the anime team."
@DaimaGokuSolos: "4/ The feats in Daima when properly calculated using standard power scaling methodology put Daima Goku at MINIMUM at low multiversal. Your little 'MUI shakes the void' feat doesn't compare."
@DaimaGokuSolos: "5/ In conclusion: Daima Goku > MUI Goku > Jiren > Broly > Beerus > Your feelings. Stay mad. 😎"
He hit send on the final tweet and leaned back in his gaming chair, watching the chaos unfold in real-time. The quote tweets were already rolling in, a mixture of laughing emojis, angry responses, and the occasional person who actually agreed with him (those were his people, his soldiers in this war).
@VegitoBlueGOAT: "This is the worst thread I've ever seen in my life. You didn't provide a SINGLE scan or feat. Just vibes and headcanon."
@SSBEVegetaFan: "Bro really said 'low multiversal' with zero evidence 💀💀💀"
@GohanBeastEnjoyer: "Least insane Daima fan"
@UltraEgoVegeta: "I'm not reading all that. Happy for you though. Or sorry that happened."
Derek was about to fire back when a new notification popped up. A direct message.
@TrueDBZScholar: "Hey, I saw your thread. I actually agree with your assessment. Daima Goku is severely underrated by the community. Would you be interested in joining a Discord server dedicated to proper Daima scaling? We have over 500 members who understand the truth."
Derek's heart swelled. Finally, someone who got it. Someone who understood that he wasn't crazy, that his countless hours of analysis and argument weren't in vain. He clicked on the profile—the account had been posting detailed scaling breakdowns for years, with thousands of followers.
He typed back immediately.
@DaimaGokuSolos: "ABSOLUTELY. Send me the link. I've been looking for my people."
The invite came through seconds later. Derek clicked it without hesitation, and his Discord app opened to reveal a server called "Daima Supremacy: The Enlightened Ones."
He was home.
The next three hours were the happiest of Derek's life. He was surrounded by like-minded individuals who not only agreed with his Daima scaling but had taken it even further than he had ever imagined. There were documents. There were calculations. There were frame-by-frame analyses of every fight scene with mathematical breakdowns of power output.
It was beautiful.
[DaimaDefender_01]: "Derek, your Twitter thread was legendary. We've all been following your arguments for weeks. You're doing God's work out there."
[DemonRealmKingpin]: "Seriously, the way you handled those Super fans was chef's kiss. They have no idea what they're talking about."
[GokuMiniMaxPower]: "Welcome to the family, brother. Together, we will spread the truth about Daima's superiority across all platforms."
Derek was typing up a response when he noticed his vision getting blurry. He blinked a few times, trying to clear it, but the fuzziness only got worse. His head was pounding—probably from staring at screens for... he glanced at his computer clock... eighteen hours straight.
He should probably drink some water. When was the last time he had water? Or eaten something that wasn't chips? Or stood up?
His left arm tingled.
That's weird, he thought. Maybe I slept on it wrong last night. Wait, did I sleep last night? What day is it?
The tingling spread to his chest, and suddenly Derek Thompson, age 28, unemployed, and the internet's most passionate Daima Goku defender, realized something was very wrong.
His phone slipped from his fingers as he tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't cooperate. The room was spinning. His chest felt like someone had placed a Gravity Machine on it, cranked up to 500x Earth's gravity.
Is this... is this what Goku felt like when the heart virus hit him? Derek thought deliriously as he collapsed onto his bedroom floor, knocking over three empty energy drink cans and a figurine of Daima Goku that he had imported from Japan for an obscene amount of money.
The figurine landed face-up next to him, its tiny painted eyes staring into his.
"I... I never got to finish... the argument..." Derek wheezed, his vision going dark at the edges. "They need to know... Daima Goku... solos..."
His Discord was still open on his monitor, messages still flowing in from his new friends who had no idea their newest member was currently dying on his bedroom floor.
[DaimaDefender_01]: "Derek? You still there?"
[DemonRealmKingpin]: "He's probably typing up another banger thread lol"
[GokuMiniMaxPower]: "Legend never stops grinding 💪"
Derek tried to reach for his phone, to type one last message, to let them know that he was passing the torch, that they needed to continue the fight without him. But his arm wouldn't move. Nothing would move.
The last thing he saw before the darkness took him completely was the tiny Daima Goku figurine, and he could have sworn—could have sworn—that it smiled at him.
Thank you for believing in me, he imagined it saying. Now let me show you just how right you were.
And then Derek Thompson died.
[EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT - 7:23 AM]
Location: 247 Riverside Apartments, Unit 4B
Victim: Derek Thompson, Male, 28 years old
Cause of Death: Cardiac arrest, likely brought on by extreme exhaustion, dehydration, malnutrition, and overconsumption of caffeine.
Notes: Victim was found by landlord after neighbors complained about an alarm going off for several hours. Victim was discovered on bedroom floor surrounded by electronic devices and collectible figurines. Computer was still active, displaying what appears to be an online chat application. Phone battery had died.
Personal Effects: iPhone 12 (cracked screen), laptop computer, three monitors, extensive collection of Japanese animation merchandise, multiple empty beverage containers.
Next of Kin: Parents notified at 8:45 AM.
Darkness.
That was all there was at first. An endless, empty void that stretched in every direction—if directions even existed in this place. Derek floated in the nothingness, his consciousness drifting like a leaf on still water.
Am I dead? he thought. Is this the afterlife? It's... really boring.
He had expected something more. Pearly gates, maybe. Or the bad place with the fire and pitchforks. Or if anime was real, maybe he'd end up in the Soul Society or something. But this? This was just... nothing.
Wait, he realized. If anime afterlifes are real... then Dragon Ball's afterlife should be real too. Where's King Yemma? Where's Snake Way? WHERE'S KING KAI'S PLANET?
As if responding to his thoughts, the darkness began to shift. Colors swirled around him—blues and purples and pinks that reminded him of something. Something important. Something he had seen countless times on his screens.
The Dragon Ball wish effect, he realized with growing excitement. This looks exactly like when a wish is being granted!
A voice echoed through the void, deep and resonant and somehow familiar.
"YOUR DEVOTION HAS BEEN NOTED, MORTAL."
Derek tried to speak, but he had no mouth. No body. He was just consciousness floating in an ocean of cosmic energy.
"YOU DEDICATED YOUR LIFE TO DEFENDING THE HONOR OF ONE WHO EXISTS BETWEEN WORLDS. ONE WHO WALKS THE PATH BETWEEN DIMENSIONS. YOUR FAITH WAS... ENTERTAINING."
Entertaining? Derek would have frowned if he had a face. Is this thing mocking me?
"THE DRAGON BALLS OF THE DEMON REALM OPERATE DIFFERENTLY THAN THOSE YOU KNOW FROM YOUR STORIES. THEY DO NOT SIMPLY GRANT WISHES. THEY RECOGNIZE POTENTIAL. THEY SENSE BELIEF. AND YOUR BELIEF... WAS ABSOLUTE."
The colors intensified, swirling faster and faster around Derek's formless existence.
"MOST MORTALS DIE AND MOVE ON TO THEIR APPROPRIATE AFTERLIFE. BUT YOU... YOU DIED WITH SUCH PASSIONATE CONVICTION ABOUT SOMETHING SO UTTERLY RIDICULOUS THAT EVEN THE COSMIC FORCES TOOK NOTICE."
Hey, now—
"SILENCE. THIS IS NOT AN INSULT. CONVICTION, EVEN MISGUIDED CONVICTION, HAS POWER. AND YOUR CONVICTION WAS SINGULAR IN ITS INTENSITY. YOU TRULY BELIEVED, WITH EVERY FIBER OF YOUR BEING, THAT THE SMALL VERSION OF GOKU WAS THE SUPERIOR WARRIOR."
Because he IS, Derek thought defiantly. All my calculations clearly showed—
"YES, YES, YOUR 'CALCULATIONS.' THE COSMIC FORCES HAVE REVIEWED THEM. THEY ARE... CREATIVE."
Was this entity laughing at him? Even in death, Derek couldn't escape the mockery.
"BUT HERE IS THE TRUTH, DEREK THOMPSON. THE TRUTH THAT NO AMOUNT OF TWITTER ARGUMENTS COULD EVER PROVE OR DISPROVE. THE TRUTH THAT YOU DESPERATELY WANTED TO CONFIRM."
The swirling colors began to take shape, forming images. Derek saw glimpses of scenes—Goku fighting Beerus on King Kai's planet. Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan God. Goku battling Frieza in his golden form. Goku facing off against Jiren in the Tournament of Power. Goku mastering Ultra Instinct.
And then, alongside these images, new ones appeared. Daima Goku, small and determined, fighting through the Demon Realm. Daima Goku facing threats that warped reality around them. Daima Goku pushing beyond limits in ways that shouldn't be possible.
"THE ANSWER TO YOUR ETERNAL QUESTION—WHO IS STRONGER—CANNOT BE GIVEN. BECAUSE THE ANSWER IS... IT DEPENDS."
That's a cop-out, Derek thought angrily.
"PERHAPS. BUT HERE IS WHAT I CAN OFFER YOU, DEVOTED ONE. A CHANCE TO FIND THE ANSWER FOR YOURSELF."
The images merged, flowing together like watercolors bleeding into each other.
"I WILL SEND YOU INTO THE WORLD YOU SPENT YOUR LIFE DEBATING. YOU WILL INHABIT THE FORM OF THE WARRIOR YOU CHAMPIONED. AND YOU WILL DISCOVER, FIRSTHAND, EXACTLY HOW STRONG DAIMA GOKU TRULY IS."
Derek's consciousness flickered with excitement and fear in equal measure. Wait, are you saying—
"I AM SENDING YOU TO THE DRAGON BALL SUPER TIMELINE. YOU WILL ARRIVE AT A... PIVOTAL MOMENT. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WILL BE ENTIRELY UP TO YOU AND YOUR PRECIOUS POWER SCALING."
But I don't know how to fight! Derek realized with sudden horror. I just analyzed fights! I never actually TRAINED or—
"YOU WILL HAVE DAIMA GOKU'S BODY, HIS MUSCLE MEMORY, HIS INSTINCTS. THE REST... WELL, YOU ARGUED SO CONFIDENTLY ABOUT HIS ABILITIES. SURELY YOU WILL FIGURE IT OUT."
The cosmic presence's voice was definitely mocking him now.
"OH, AND ONE MORE THING. A SMALL COMPLICATION."
Complication?
"THE ORIGINAL GOKU OF THAT TIMELINE WILL STILL EXIST. YOU ARE NOT REPLACING HIM. YOU ARE BEING... ADDED. CONSIDER IT A BONUS CHALLENGE FOR THE ULTIMATE POWER SCALER."
WAIT, WHAT—
"FAREWELL, DEREK THOMPSON. MAY YOUR CALCULATIONS SERVE YOU WELL."
The void exploded with light, and Derek felt himself being pulled—stretched—compressed—reformed. It was like being shoved through a cosmic pasta maker, his entire existence being reshaped into something new.
He tried to scream, but the light was too bright, the sensation too overwhelming, and then—
DRAGON BALL SUPER TIMELINE
AGE 778
CAPSULE CORPORATION - BACKYARD
BULMA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY
The sky above Capsule Corporation was a perfect blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds that drifted lazily in the afternoon breeze. The sprawling grounds of the Briefs compound had been transformed into a party venue, with tables of food, decorations featuring the number "38" (though everyone knew Bulma was at least a decade older), and dozens of guests mingling and laughing.
It was, by all accounts, a perfect day.
Goku stood in the center of a circle formed by his closest friends and family, his expression serious despite the festive atmosphere around them. To his right stood Vegeta, arms crossed, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. To his left was Gohan, who had reluctantly agreed to participate despite his academic commitments. Goten and Trunks stood nearby, buzzing with excitement at being part of something so important.
And at the center of it all, providing her energy to the ritual, was Videl—pregnant with Pan and serving as the final piece of the puzzle they needed.
"Alright," Goku said, cracking his neck. "According to Shenron, if five righteous Saiyans pour their hearts into another, we can create a Super Saiyan God. Everyone ready?"
"Just get on with it, Kakarot," Vegeta growled. "The sooner we do this ridiculous ritual, the sooner I can go back to training properly."
"Vegeta, this IS training," Gohan pointed out. "We're about to face a literal God of Destruction."
"Speaking of which," Piccolo interjected from his position on the sidelines, "shouldn't you all be taking this more seriously? Beerus destroyed King Kai's planet without even trying. If this ritual doesn't work—"
"It'll work!" Goku insisted with his characteristic optimism. "It has to. I can feel it. This is going to be awesome!"
Behind them, on the main stage of the party, Beerus lounged in a chair that had been hastily procured for him, sampling various Earth delicacies with an expression of mild interest. Whis stood beside him, watching the proceedings with an enigmatic smile.
"They're actually going to attempt it," Whis observed. "How exciting. I haven't seen a Super Saiyan God transformation in... oh, it must be millions of years now."
"Just as long as the food keeps coming," Beerus replied, popping another takoyaki into his mouth. "If this 'Super Saiyan God' turns out to be disappointing, I'll destroy the Earth and we can find lunch elsewhere."
"Of course, Lord Beerus."
Back at the ritual circle, the Saiyans had joined hands (with much reluctance from Vegeta's part) and begun channeling their energy. A soft golden glow emanated from each of them, flowing toward Goku at the center.
"I can feel it," Goku breathed, his eyes widening. "Everyone's energy... it's warm. It's—"
He was cut off by a sound that none of them expected.
A sound like reality itself being torn open like wet paper.
Everyone looked up.
Directly above Goku, a swirling portal had appeared in the sky—a vortex of colors that didn't belong to this dimension, bleeding purples and blues and sickly greens that hurt to look at directly. The wind picked up, sending napkins and party decorations flying in all directions. Guests screamed and scattered.
"What the hell is THAT?!" Vegeta shouted, breaking the circle formation as everyone instinctively dropped into fighting stances.
"It's not Beerus's doing," Whis said, his playful demeanor suddenly sharp and alert. "This is... interesting. Very interesting indeed. That energy signature is from the Demon Realm."
"Demon Realm?" Beerus sat up straighter, his eyes narrowing. "Now THAT'S unexpected."
Something was falling from the portal.
No, not something—someone.
A small figure, plummeting toward the ground at terminal velocity, limbs flailing wildly, screaming at the top of very small lungs.
"WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK—"
Goku looked up at the incoming projectile, his Saiyan reflexes already calculating trajectories, preparing to catch whoever was falling—
And then he froze.
Because the figure falling toward him looked exactly like him.
A smaller version. A child version. Wearing clothes he didn't recognize, with a slightly different hairstyle, but unmistakably, impossibly, him.
"Is that... me?" Goku's brain short-circuited, his body forgetting to move, his feet staying rooted to the spot as physics did what physics does best.
"MOVE, YOU IDIOT!" Vegeta shouted.
Too late.
WHAM.
The small Goku—Daima Goku—landed headfirst directly on top of regular Goku's head with the force of a small meteor. The impact created a shockwave that knocked everyone in the immediate vicinity off their feet. A small crater formed beneath the two Gokus, spider-web cracks spreading across Bulma's expensive imported tile work.
For a moment, everything was still.
Then, from the bottom of the pile, regular Goku's voice emerged, muffled and pained:
"Owwwww..."
And from the top of the pile, now lying sprawled across his larger counterpart's back, Daima Goku—Derek Thompson in his new body—opened his eyes for the first time in this new world.
Holy shit, he thought, staring at the blue sky above him, at the shocked faces of characters he had only ever seen on screens, at the very real and very solid body beneath him. Holy SHIT.
I'm actually here.
I'm actually Daima Goku.
And I just landed on Super Goku's head.
He sat up slowly, his new body responding in ways his old one never had. He felt... powerful. Light. Like he could jump to the moon if he wanted to. Like his muscles knew exactly what to do even if his brain was still catching up.
The Z-Fighters had formed a defensive perimeter around the crash site, all of them staring at him with expressions ranging from confusion (Gohan) to suspicion (Vegeta) to blank shock (Goten and Trunks).
And behind them, still seated in his chair but now leaning forward with genuine interest, was Beerus the Destroyer.
Oh, Derek thought, his new Saiyan heart hammering in his small chest. Oh no.
Regular Goku groaned beneath him, slowly pushing himself up from the crater. "What... what just happened? Did something hit me?"
He turned around, and the two Gokus came face to face for the first time.
One was tall, adult, dressed in his classic orange gi, looking thoroughly confused.
One was small, child-sized, wearing Daima's distinctive outfit, and absolutely freaking out internally while trying to maintain composure externally.
"Uh," they both said at the same time.
"WHAT?!" everyone else shouted in unison.
Vegeta found his voice first. "There are TWO of them now?! Two Kakarots?! The universe has officially gone insane!"
"Actually," Whis said, floating closer to examine the newcomer with curious eyes, "this is quite fascinating. This child has the same ki signature as Goku, but it's... different. Twisted slightly. As if it came from an alternate dimension or timeline where the fundamental nature of ki itself operates differently."
Beerus stood up from his chair, his tail swishing with interest. "An alternate Goku? From the Demon Realm?" A slow smile spread across his face. "Now THIS might make things entertaining."
Derek—Daima Goku—looked around at all the people he had watched on screens for years, at the situation he had literally died to create debates about, at the insane reality of his new existence.
And despite everything—despite the danger, despite the confusion, despite the fact that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing—one thought rose above all others in his mind:
I can finally settle this debate once and for all.
Daima Goku vs Super Goku.
Live and in person.
Time to prove the haters wrong.
Regular Goku scratched his head, looking at his smaller doppelganger with innocent curiosity. "So, uh... who are you? And why do you look like me?"
Derek opened his mouth to respond, but what came out was not the carefully considered explanation he had planned. Instead, years of Twitter argumentation took over, and before he could stop himself, the words spilled out:
"I'm you, but stronger."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Then Vegeta burst out laughing.
"Oh, this is going to be GOOD."